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Philip Morris International does not own any tobacco farms. We buy our tobacco from leaf merchant companies and farmers from all over the world, including Brazil, Greece, Italy, Malawi, Poland, Thailand, Turkey and the US.
We work closely with tobacco farmers, government agencies and universities to share and promote best practices in tobacco farming. Our goal is to ensure both that we have a worldwide supply of quality tobacco for our products and that the farming communities on which we depend can thrive on a sustainable basis.
Growing quality tobacco starts with the careful preparation of the seedbed and seedling production. Tobacco seeds are tiny (there are between 10,000 and 30,000 to a gram) but they germinate rapidly in 5-10 days. Under the appropriate seedbed conditions, they will grow to a height of between 15 and 20 cm in about two months. They are then transplanted to the field.
After 3-4 months in the fields, the plants are ready for harvesting. Two of the three main types of tobacco - Virginia and Oriental - are harvested in successive stages, starting with the early-ripening leaves closest to the ground, then moving up the plant as the remaining stalk layers ripen. The other main type of tobacco - Burley - is primarily harvested in one operation by cutting down the plant and removing the leaves from the stalk after curing.
The curing process plays a major role in final leaf quality, and the skill of the farmer is crucial to bringing out different tobaccos' characteristic tastes.
Virginia tobacco is cured in a process called "flue curing". The tobacco is hung in specialized curing barns where heated air removes water from the leaves. This process takes up to a week, during which time the temperature must be constantly monitored and gradually increased. Too much heat or cold at any stage of the process will have a negative impact on quality.
Burley tobacco is "air cured" in well-ventilated barns, a process taking up to two months. Oriental tobacco is dried by "sun-curing", in which the leaves are hung outside, exposed to the sun.
Once cured, the tobacco leaves are sorted by the farmer according to stalk position and leaf characteristics, packed into bales and delivered to an auction floor or receiving centre where our leaf buyers, experts in leaf quality and assessment, carefully judge the quality of the leaves by variations in color, texture and aroma.
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